Theodore Hyrtakenos

Theodore Hyrtakenos, Latinized as Theodorus Hyrtacenus (Greek: Θεόδωρος Ὑρτακηνός), was a court official of the Byzantine Empire. He flourished in the time of the Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282-1328), where he was the superintendent of the public teachers of rhetoric and belles lettres. Ninety-three of his letters, a congratulatory address, and three of his funeral orations are extant. Their stilted rhetoric hinders their address, but they speak towards an extensive acquaintance with ancient poetry. Also extant are a panegyric on the Virgin Mary, a panegyric on Aninas Thaumaturgus, and a description of the garden of Saint Anna in Nazareth.